Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Greater New Orleans

Change Region

comments

Westwego City Council changes new city hall design to bring down costs

Papia addresses WEGO city hall.jpg

Jimmy Meyer, an architect with Meyer Engineers, discusses changes to his design for Westwego's new city hall during a special meeting of the City Council Wednesday night (June 18). After contractors submitted bids to build the new facility, city officials learned they did not have enough money available. So they've whittled down the plan, removing design features and selecting less-expensive alternatives, to reduce the costs. Seated in background from left are Deputy City Clerk Maurice Bourgois, Mayor Johnny Shaddinger and Councilman Norman Fonseca. (Paul Purpura, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The Westwego City Council knocked off about $605,000 from the cost to build a new city hall Wednesday, carving from the project various design features and opting for less-expensive systems in an effort to bring the overall price tag down.

Mayor Johnny Shaddinger sought the changes after five construction companies submitted bids two months ago that were well over what the city has available to build at the new site, at Fourth Street and Central Avenue.

"The last thing we want to do in this building is add on," Shaddinger said during a debate over whether to eliminate two offices. He pointed to the current City Hall, whose floor plan was expanded through additions through the years. "It's going to last us 50 to 100 years, so we want to make sure it's sound."

The lowest of the bids came in at almost $3.8 million. But the city only has $3.35 million, a sum Westwego got from FEMA to replace the current City Hall. Shaddinger said two of the bidders provided advice on how the city could reduce the costs. He met with the engineers and others and presented to the council Wednesday night a 13-item list of proposed changes.

The council voted 4-1 in favor of the changes. Councilman Larry Warino, a contractor, was the dissenter. After the meeting, Warino angrily said that Shaddinger did not invite him to meet with the architect and others in crafting a list of 13 items that could be changed.

Shaddinger denied Warino's accusation. "I spoke with him on several occasions to meet with the engineers," Shaddinger said.

The city will seek another round of bids in about 60 days. Construction could begin in the fall, and Shaddinger said it would take a year to 15 months to complete the building.

Among the design features that were eliminated were a canopy over the mayor's parking spot and a drive-up window through which residents could pay various bills. People already can pay bills through the mail, online or in person.

"I don't think having a drive through window is necessary for our city," Councilman Johnny Nobles said. "For a $75,000 price, that is a chunk alone."

They also knocked off dormer windows and a widow's walk. Electronics and voting systems will be simplified as well, said architect Jimmy Papia of Meyer Engineers Ltd.

Shaddinger's proposal also called for eliminating two offices. The council decided it wants those offices. Councilman Glenn Green said he used to meet with constituents at his home. He no longer does that, but space isn't always available at City Hall. "There's seldom any place to talk to anybody," Green said.

The council eliminated the plan to have a thermostat in each room, opting instead to have temperature control panels in zones. A partition allowing the city to separate its functions from the Office of Motor Vehicles will be altered to reduce costs. The firewall rating for the city's records room also will be reduced, Papia said.

Papia drew gasps from the audience when he mentioned the $1,000 cost for the hardware on each door. Changing the hardware reduced the cost to $800 per door, he said.

Nobles asked that the city include a generator in the project as an alternate bid. Under the initial round of bids, a generator was included as an alternate and would cost about $250,000, including installation, Shaddinger said.

That led to debate among the council on how much power is needed. A 250-kilowatt generator was initially envisioned. That, officials said, could be far more power than the city needs for City Hall.

Fire Chief Charles Hudson, who also is Jefferson Parish's emergency operations manager, said the parish's 911 center in Gretna has two 100-kilowatt generators but only need to operate one at a time. Police Chief Dwayne "Poncho" Munch said his department has a 150-kilowatt generator to power its building, computers and air conditioning.

Papia said the generator specified in the bid is designed for continuous operation. "Something that's going to run for eight, 10, 14 days," he said. "It is a little more powerful, but this is city hall."

Said Green: "That generator is going to be essential. That's not a luxury. That's essential."